While giveaways and sales are very common on digital gaming storefronts, theEpic Games Storehas made a name for itself by offering free games to grab and keep every week or so for years. Throughout the promotion’s life, there have been certain trends and traditions that it has adhered to, like themystery game campaignduring the holidays. 2025 so far has seen the offerings take a turn from what players expect from them.
These changes aren’t anything for Epic Games Store regulars to worry about, but they’re enough to raise a few questions. Firstly, where theEpic Games Storeusually offers titles relevant to upcoming holidays, Valentine’s Day came and went with only anApex Legendsunlock pack up for grabs. For the first time since the promotion began, the spring sale offered three mystery games throughout the two weeks it was active. Then, April brought a barrage of live-service title giveaways two weeks in a row. Luckily, the week of April 18 seems to learn from the last rotation’s mistake, asBotaniculais being given away withFirestone’s “Epic Games Store special offer.” Additionally, those who weren’t happy withArcadegeddonandIdle Champions of the Forgotten Realmsshould check back, asRiver City Girlshas been added in the middle of the week unannounced.
Epic Games Store Free Game River City Girls Explained
River City Girlsis a rather unique spin-off of theKunio-kunseries in which the original protagonists, Kunio and Riki, are kidnapped and need to be rescued by their girlfriends, Misako and Kyoko. Just as the name suggests, players make their way through as the two girls, aiming to find who took their partners and beat up anyone responsible. Fans get toexplore River Cityand cause over-the-top anime chaos to any of their enemies thanks to the direction of pixel artist Valeriya Sanchilo alongside Priscilla Hamby ofDevil’s Candy.
Epic Games Store Free Game Botanicula Explained
When the life of their home tree is at risk, five brave little critters go on a humorous journey to protect the tree’s last seed.Botaniculauplifts many players with a story of hope filled with jokes all the way through, enticing players to do the unexpected to uncover fun secrets. WhileBotaniculamight not have aged well to some gamers - it was released in 2012 after all - there’s still wonder to be found within it for those looking for a simple yet worthwhile game to spend time with.
Epic Games Store Free Game Firestone Explained
Just likeIdle Champions of the Forgotten Realmsbefore it,Firestoneis a live-service idle RPG that is giving Epic Games Store players the chance to grab rare items for playing through the storefront exclusively. Frequent visitors to Epic’s free games page may befamiliar withFirestoneas developers Holyday Studios have given out similar bonuses in the past. Those interested can find a list of what the upcoming giveaway offers below.
Even if the Epic Games Store has been shaking things up with what players have come to expect from its giveaways, the storefront has still managed to give fans the chance to try out many different experiences at no extra cost. There are still plenty of months to go in the year, so other holidays and mystery game windows could prove worthwhile for a variety of gamers going forward. Even if things remain as unpredictable as they have been in the first third of the year, fans can at least countEGS freebies every week, which always drop on Thursday at 10 AM CT.
